


Four Months and Six Days

by Rumbelleisotp



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-10
Updated: 2016-05-10
Packaged: 2018-06-07 16:36:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6813652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rumbelleisotp/pseuds/Rumbelleisotp
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They met and fell in love at the summer and they parted four months and six days ago, now they're meeting again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Four Months and Six Days

They had decided to surprise Gold on Christmas day, so the group of five started their road trip from Boston to a little town called Storybrooke. Emma and Neal were traveling with their yellow bug and its limited space, and that left Regina, Daniel and Belle driving to the couple's hometown with their luxury Chevy.

Belle was kind of sad cause she wouldn't spent Christmas with her family back in Australia, but she was excited because soon enough she would meet again with the man that held her heart since that summer.

Last summer, she had gone with her friends on holidays in a beautiful resort which apparently belonged to Neal's father, Nicholas Gold. Mr. Gold was a slim man but much stronger that he looked. There was a unique kind of charm all over him. From his long greyish hair to the way he's eating, from how he dried his hands to the way she held her close to him when she had fallen from the ladder and she landed on his arms. She was deeply in love with him and she could have thought that it was one-sided if Gold hadn't kissed her the night before their departure. She hadn't seen him the next morning but Neal informed her that he'd left early that morning to catch his flight. 

Now, she was on the road with her cousin Daniel and his fiance, Regina. Both of them had been through so much because of Regina's mother but their love won in the end and now they're getting married next month. Belle sigh, and she sank into the back seat. 

"Emma is asking if you want to stop and have breakfast somewhere." Regina broke the silence in the car, reading Emma's message.

"I don't mind. What about you, Bells?" Daniel said and looked Belle through the rear mirror. 

"I'd love too." Belle answered. Honestly, she hadn't eat anything the day before because she was to anxious for her upcoming meeting with Gold and now she was starving. 

"Okay, she said she found a bed and breakfast on our way. We will be there in ten minutes." Regina said and kept texting with Emma.

They were sitting in a booth near the corner and Bells felt like a fifth wheel as her friends were making out. Her thoughts were back to that balcony four months and six days ago, she still remember how he leaned into her unsure for himself and how he let the final choice to her. She remembered his taste, something between tea's sweetness and coffee's bitterness. Her train og thoughts interrupted as the waitress came with their orders, but she was the only one who paid attention to the girl with the tray as the rest were too busy kissing and touching. The girl gave a understanding smile to Belle which she returned. It took her three tries until she finally got to separate her friends mouth from each other.

"So, Belle are you excited to see my dad again?" Neal asked innocently but he earned a kick from Emma under the table. "What? I just asked if she was happy to see her man again!" he defensed himself. Regina splitted out her drink. Belle looked at her friends and realized that there was something that's going on there. She dropped her fork and sat back on her chair.

"What's going on here?" She asked, her anger was obvious to every person on the table. They exchanged some looks but none responted. So, she got up and left the dinner. Daniel was the one who followed her and stopped her.

"Belle, let me explain." He said 

"Speak"

"We figured out about you and Gold during the summer. You were both impossible in love with each other but you're acting like idiots. So, Neal suggested to leave you alone as many times as we could, so we got you speak, but our vacation came to an end and nothing happened between you two. Now we hope that things will be easier for you once you'll see each other again." Daniel finished his explanation and she waited for Belle's response.

"Actually, it happened something. The night before left, we kissed."

" What?" Belle turned around to see the rest of them looking at her with their mouths open.

"Oh, don't look at me like that... We kissed and it was beautiful and perfect and romantic and every great thing a kiss can be." She added.

"You're not mad at us?" Neal asked.

"That's something to think about later. Now can we leave? I have a love to reach" Belle replied and went to where the cars were. They all laughed and soon enough they were back on the road. "Only two more hours" Belle thought "Two hours".

0

Gold was making breakfast. It was Christmas morning and all he could think was how lonely this day would be without his son and his company. They had made a tradition to spend the holidays together- him, Neal, Emma, Regina and Daniel- and he wished for them to be there with him.

He also wished to spend this day with a particular Aussie with blue eyes and brown hair. It's been four months and six days since he kissed Belle. Four months and six days trying to convince himself that leaving her behind was the best for both of them, especially for her. Four months and six days were spent with him craving to feel Belle's love once again. He had counted each minute of them, remembering how her lips felt on his, how in sync their tongues were,how soft she was under his touch and how those eyes were looking at him with love. 

He had decided that being together with Belle would have harmed her and damaged her beyond repair. After all, he was the town's monster. Who could ever love him? None. Or at least that's what he believed until her. She was pure light and he was pure darkness, that was the reason he couldn't let her love him. He knew he'd be her undoing and he would be damn if she let her go down with him. Leaving the morning after their kiss without saying goodbye was the hardest thing he had ever done in his miserable life, but he knew it was the best for her, he hoped so.

There was a knock on the door. Gold cursed under his breath, ready to tell the person who dared to bother him that day to go to hell. But when he answered the door every thought flew out of his mind as his son and his friends were standing in front of him.

"Surprise" Neal said. Gold was at loss of words so he just hugged his son and greeted his friends. Happy to see all four of them again. What he missed was Belle who was standing behind them as if she was hiding for him. Only when she stood in front of him Gold saw her. His compose fell immediately and he just welcomed her in a cold tone. 

0

Belle was watching him. She was sure he looked more handsome than the last time she had see him. He didn't seem to notice her until she was in front of him. His tone was cold and Belle's face fell. She was waiting for that moment since they had parted, four months and six days ago, and she felt hurt. She was at least expecting a hug from him but came none. 

"What are you doing here?" Gold asked and sat down with them in the living room. Belle was sure he was avoiding her gaze and she didn't know why perhaps-

"Baby, who was that?" A voice called from the second floor and a woman appeared on top of the stairs in nothing but one of Gold's shirt and tiny panties. She was blond with dark eyes and tall and everything that Belle wasn't. 

Belle could have sworn she heard her heart fell on her stomach. Everyone was looking at the woman and then at Gold waiting an explanation from his behalf. Everyone except Belle, who was looking at her hands in her lap and Regina, who was looking at Belle. 

Gold just stood up and gestured the woman to come and sit with them. 

"This is Brittany. W-we...umm..." Gold didn't know how to explain the situation, actually he could, but voicing the fact that this woman was just a destruction from his love for Belle didn't sound good.

"We are dating." Brittany said and extended her hand to greet them. 

"I'm Neal, Gold's son" Neal said and took her hand, shaking it. The rest followed introducing themselves, until a hand appeared in front of Belle. She looked up and saw the woman who was currently dating Gold. Then she took her hand and stood up.

"I'm Belle" she said and before Brittany got the chance to reply, she turned to her friends "I-I'm going for a walk" she said and ran out of the house. She heard them calling her but she didn't look back, she couldn't. So she just kept walking without a destination as tears falling down on her cheeks. 

0

"That was rude" Brittany stated as the door closed behind Belle and missing the looks of Belle's friends who were full of hate and disappointment. 

"I guess she had her reasons." Gold said and sat down. He looked at Neal who was shaking his head at him. Nicholas felt miserable, he saw Belle's watered eyes before she stormed out and he was sure as hell that he was the cause of it.

Regina stood up and left the house without saying a word, Daniel followed, not far behind her. Emma went to the kitchen and that left Gold, Brittany and Neal alone in the living room. She decided it was time to wear something more appropriate and went to change upstairs.

"Neal, I-" Gold started to explain but Neal raised a finger to him and stopped him.

"What was that, Papa? When did all these happened? You could at least have told me about her so I could prepare Belle" He said, furious with his father. He hadn't dated since forever and now, here he was, dating that Brittany. He thought Gold loved Belle but he might be mistaken and the worst thing was that he had given Belle false hopes. 

"We were start dating during November and we just kept going." Gold said.

"I see. Well, I'm going to find Belle, and she-" he pointed to the stairs "-better be gone when we will come back." he finished and went to take Emma in order to find Belle.

0

She didn't know how she had ended up in the docks. She was just walking until there was nowhere to go anymore. Belle had sat down and cried until there were no more tears.

How could she be so stupid? How could he be so heartless? She should have known better than to expect him to wait for her with open arms. After all, they hadn't talked since their kiss and maybe that was why: he probably didn't felt the same about her and the kiss confirmed it to him. And she was just the idiot who was waiting for his love, a love which was lost before it even began. 

She felt someone sitting beside her on the bunch and saw Regina. She looked furious and understanding. Belle had totally forgotten the fact that all her friends knew about her and Gold, if there was ever such a thing as her and Gold in the first place, and that thought brought tears in her eyes again. Regina hugged her and murmured to her that everything is going to be okay. Daniel showed up a little later and joined them. 

"Hey, Bluebell, it's going to alright, I am here, I promise." Daniel ensured her. He was always there for her, as she was always there for him too. 

Belle just nodded not trusting herself to speak. 

Half an hour later, Emma and Neal appeared with coffee and chocolates, Belle's favorite. Neal kneeled in front of her and comforted her. He even apologize on Gold's behalf but Belle cut him off, telling him that he's not responsible for any of these. He didn't seem to agree with her but he stayed silent after that.

They sat there for an hour or so, until it started snowing and they had to find some shelter. Regina, Emma and Neal headed back to Gold while Belle and Daniel went to Granny's, the only business in town which rented rooms. They hadn't booked any because they had always stayed at Gold's when they were visiting Storybrooke but the last thing Belle wanted, at this moment, was to be under the same roof with that man.

She wasn't lucky cause there wasn't any room available. She though about leaving but trains and bus had stopped in the midday cause, after all, it was Christmas. Belle laughed with herself. She had high hopes for that day and now it's all shattered like a glass. So, that left her with one option, she had to spent Christmas with Nicholas Gold.

0

Gold was sitting at his study with a glass of scotch in his hand. It was the third since he came home. She dropped Brittany off. He broke up with her and she lushed out to him. He couldn't blame her, really, he was just using her but so did she him. He had heard her talk with her friend after their second date, telling her how she's planning to marry him, even if she had to carry his spawn. He was furious with her and he decided on keep dating but never do more than kissing, this was his reveange. She was waiting for something that never came. They hadn't done anything more than kissing. And last night she had just slept over because she was too drunk to go back at her home and before he could call a cab she had passed out in the living room. He'd waken her up just long enough so he could lead her in one of his guestrooms, he didn't know where she found his shirt but he guessed it was forgotten in the room's closet.

He had to ended that parody. He had hurt Belle. He knew that. The way she left after Brittany's appearance was evidence enough that what her feelings for him hadn't changed. And he was a fool. He was the world's greatest fool for having a love as pure as Belle's and denied it. Now it was probably too late to have a chance with her.

He heard the door opened and went to welcome his guests. He only saw Neal with Regina and Emma. There was an awkward silence in the air.

"What do you want for dinner?" he asked. He had almost forgotten what day was. "Stew right?" he said again. It was another tradition. To have stew for dinner on Christmas day.

"Umm... I don't know. What do think?" Neal said turning to the girls.

"Sure" Both replied in union. Four of them were feeling strange trying to avoid the elephant in the middle of the room. Gold just turned around and headed to the kitchen. Neal followed him. They stayed quiet for a long time.

"There are blankets and sheets where you remember, son. Why don't you go to prepare the rooms for you. You're staying here, right?"

"Me and Emma are, but I don't know about the rest" Neal replied. Gold's heart was crushed by those words. She didn't even want to be in the same house with him and really, who could blame her? He started shaking as he cried silently. Neal came closer to him. 

"She doesn't want to see me, does she?" Gold asked,his voice cracking. He didn't need to name who that she was, his son knew.

"No... She doesn't. Why did you do that, papa? You were never dating anyone as long as I can remember and then you had something special with Belle and you threw it out of the window."

"I loved her, Neal. I still do and I am sure I'll never stop loving Belle, but I couldn't let her go down with me. She is pure light, son, pure light and look at me... I am the town's monster, everyone hates me. How I could have ever let something as pure as Belle drown into the darkness? I had to let her go because I love her so much that I just can't allow myself to do that to her, to destroy her light." Gold said turning around. But Neal wasn't there, instead his eyes met with two beautiful blue ones.

0

Belle and Daniel had arrived at Gold's a couple of minutes ago. They heard voices from the kitchen and someone mentioned her name. She went closer and she heard him talking about her. She stepped in and touched Neal's shoulder and he left, leaving them alone. Gold finished and turned around.

0

He was standing there, doing nothing at all, he didn't even breath. The next thing he knew was Belle's lips on his. It took him a moment to realize what was happening but once some sense came back to him, he kissed her back with all he was. They parted for some necessary air. They were breathing hard and their foreheads were touching. 

"I love you too. So much." Belle said and kisses him again. 

'I've been waiting four months and-"

"-six days for this" Belle finished his sentence. They kissed again and again and again until someone coughed behind them and they turned around only to find the rest of the group watching them and grinning at them. Gold put his arms around Belle's waist and held her close. 

"So, does that mean that you're okay?" Daniel asked. Belle turned to Gold and looked into his eyes. Eyes which were full of love for her.

"Yeah," Belle replied "actually we are more than okay."

"We are perfect" Gold added and then he kissed her again.

"Get a room" Regina murmured and everyone laughed. 

"Papa, sorry to disturb you but didn't you prepare dinner?" Neal asked and Gold chuckled.

"You're right, son. Stew, hum?" Everyone nodded. "Fine. Belle, would you like to help me?" he asked her.

"Bet she does" Emma said before Belle had a chance to reply. But agreed with her.

0

The dinner was delicious. Nobody commented on the fact that the food was ready thirty minutes later than usual but they all guessed it was because Gold and Belle couldn't keep their hands for themselves. That continued over the dinner and Neal had to sit between in order to stop them before they were both far gone. Gold murmured to Belle something about his son cockblocking him and she just winked at him and told him that later would be alone with no interruptions. 

They ate and the sat in the living room to enjoy a cup of tea. They also exchanged gifts. Gold hadn't buy them anything but a visit at his shop was enough to find a present for everyone. After that they decided to go to sleep.  
Belle ffollowed Gold on his bedroom. It was like she had thought it would be, full of antique furniture and painted in dark red. There were other two doors, one leading to the closet and the other to his bathroom. 

0

He stoped in front of her and he crushes his mouth to hers. They started undressing each other and they were kissing every inch of newly exposed skin. He had made her come two time, one with his hand and one with his mouth, before he entered her. His pace was slow and gentle. They were rocking together until they reached a sweet orgasm together. 

"Nicholas, are-are we together now?" Belle asked later sounding unsure for herself. Their bodies were sweaty and their libs tangled underneath the covers. Gold cupped her chin and made her looked him in his eyes.

"From now on, my Belle, I don't want to spend a single day without you." He kissed her and the swifted so he could reach his nightstand. He took something from the top drawer. It was a small box that could only ment one thing. Belle was at the verge of tears. He opened and inside was the most beautiful ring Belle had ever seen. It was simple with a elegant rose shaped diamond on it.

"I am now and for all the future yours."

"What- what are you saying?"

"Will you marry me?"

"Yes" Belle said nodding. He placed the ring on her finger and then they kissed and laughed.

"Just one question" 

"What?" Gold asked 

"Why did you have a ring in your nightstand?"

"Because it's not just a ring. Someone sold that to me three months ago and the first thing that I thought when I saw it was you. I knew this ring would be yours someday, and I am glad I was the one who gave it to you."

"I love you Nicholas Adam Gold."

"As I love you, Belle Kate soon-to-be-Gold French."


End file.
